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Makers of scary films far from horrific

Ron Cerabona

Canadian directors, producers and screen writers the Soska twins, Jen and Sylvia, in Canberra for the International Film Festival. Photo: Melissa Adams

The Soska Sisters, Jen and Sylvia, do not conform to any kind of horror stereotype. For a pair who write, direct and produce horror movies, the 29-year-old Canadian twins were cheerful, chatty and bubbly, answering questions simultaneously and finishing each other's sentences, and saying hello and goodbye with warm embraces.

Not, perhaps, the sort of behaviour expected from the creators of Dead Hooker in a Trunk and their second movie, American Mary. The latter screened as part of the Canberra International Film Festival on Tuesday.

The sisters have been taking American Mary on the international festival circuit since June. Of their first time in Australia, Sylvia said: ''It's wonderful, really nice. Very similar to Canada, except for the accents of course.''

American Mary is a story of an impoverished medical student, played by Katharine Isabelle, who immerses herself in the strange underground world of body modification.

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''The tone is really like Psycho. People see things that don't happen, that are suggested to happen,'' Jen said.

''I thought it was a beautiful art film,'' she added, in a mocking, innocent tone.

It has been a swift rise for the sisters, who started out their horror career as teenagers, telling spooky stories while working at a summer camp.

As children and young adults, they worked in acting, stunts and modelling but decided they wanted to make their own movies.

''We maxed out our credit cards,'' Sylvia said of their micro-budget film Dead Hooker in a Trunk (2009), which started as a fake trailer and got them attention.

Then came American Mary, which had a bigger budget but was still under $1 million, for which their parents mortgaged their house to support.

The sisters have since attracted the attention of Hollywood players such as Eli Roth, the director of Hostel, who helped their films find audiences, so the Soska family home is safe.

The sisters have now finished their third film, the monster movie Bob.

Although they are making a name in the US, they still have not made the move from Canada to California. Some things are just too scary, even for them.